U.S. Determined to Finalize Status of Kosovo The United States continues to push for independence to solve the long-standing question of Kosovo, supporting the plan proposed by U.N. envoy and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari that calls for supervised independence for the ethnically divided Serbian province, which has been in limbo since the breakup of Yugoslavia. Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary for political affairs at the State Department, recently reiterated that support at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) as well as in testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in mid-April. “We’ve known this day was going to come,” Burns said, referring to the fact that Kosovo couldn’t remain under U.N. administration forever. “[I]t's very clear to the United States that the future of Kosovo should be one of independence. And we will lead the way as authors of a resolution that would allow that happen,” he told the CFR audience, which included Serb Ambassador Ivan Vujacic as well as representatives from the embassies of Albania and Russia. And for a while it seemed as if the Ahtisaari proposal, introduced in early April, would finally resolve the status of Kosovo, the majority of which is made up of Kosovar Albanians who want full independence from Serbia. Under the U.N. blueprint, Kosovo would function under supervised independence for a limited number of years—with NATO continuing to man the borders and a European Union contingent leading the international civilian effort—and there would be assurances to the Serb minority in Kosovo that religion, churches and monasteries be protected. Ahtisaari’s suggestions are endorsed by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and strongly supported by the United States, which hopes to sponsor a new Security Council resolution to replace a 1999 resolution that originally put Kosovo under U.N. administration. Subsequently, Kosovo leaders would declare independence, with the United States and other nations following suit to recognize the new state. But Belgrade has balked at breaking up its territorial integrity, instead offering the province wide-ranging internal autonomy as a compromise. Compounding the problem is Russia—a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council—which has so far rejected the plan mainly out of concerns that independence could set a dangerous precedence, potentially sparking other breakaway provinces in the region, such as Chechnya, to seek independence along ethnic lines. To allay these fears, U.S. diplomats have been working to assure the Russians that Kosovo is a unique case and that the United States would not endorse any other regional partitions—which Burns stressed during his discussion at the Council on Foreign Relations. “Serbia effectively gave Kosovo up during [the Balkan] war, by its policies, by its brutal treatment of the people of Kosovo [under Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic], and by its lack of attention and regard over the last eight years,” Burns argued. “There is no other example like this in Eastern Europe or in Russia or in Central Asia.” Moreover, Burns said there is no other viable solution on the table—declaring that Kosovar Albanians “will never accept continued rule by Serbia” and echoing the sentiment that independence is the best way to avoid future violence. “There’s no question in our mind that there’s no other alternative,” he said. “Any other alternative risks the greatest possibility of violence.” Burns added that the United States has sought numerous assurances from Kosovo Albanian leaders that they safeguard Kosovar Serb minority, which has suffered from inter-ethnic attacks in the past. “It is your responsibility not just to be tolerant of all the minorities in your country, including most especially the Kosovar Serb community, but to embrace them.” Burns also addressed some of his comments directly to the Serb ambassador, whom he called a friend. “We don't want this very painful and difficult decision about the independence of Kosovo to, in effect, scuttle the possibility of good relations between our two countries,” he said. “If there’s ever a time for the people of Serbia to choose the future over the past, it’s now Mr. Ambassador.” But Burns cautioned that Serbia’s “dreams of irredentism” will “simply retard the ability of Serbia to move forward with the international community.” And although he conceded that Russia is “not exactly thrilled” about the Ahtisaari proposal, Burns also expressed confidence that “we are close to enough votes to pass this resolution today,” warning that if Russia vetoes the plan, “you’re asking Europe and the United States and our soldiers on the ground to take all the responsibility for the morning after in what would undoubtedly be, if this scenario unfolds, a very, very difficult situation indeed on the ground.” But neither a veto nor passage of the resolution so far has come to fruition. That’s because movement on the Kosovo proposal seems to have stalled, and Burns—a soft-spoken veteran diplomat who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Greece—will have his skills put the test this month with Russia’s continued resistance to the plan. In addition, according to recent news reports, Kosovo Prime Minister said he would declare independence for his province by the end of May despite opposition from Russia and Serbia. But officials at the State Department sought to play down fears of an impending confrontation. “I expect political brinksmanship in the region on the part of various actors in the Balkans in the coming months,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in an April 30 press briefing. “These are significant stakes for the people of the region, for Kosovars, for the Serbs, for others in the region. We understand that. We believe the Ahtisaari plan is the right way forward and right now, we are … working in the Security Council to bring about a change in the Security Council resolution so we can move this forward. It’s been too long.” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, center, meets with President of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu, left, and Prime Minister of Kosovo Agim Ceku during the Kosovo leaders’ 2006 U.S. visit. Photo: State Department / Michael Gross Opposition Leader Criticizes South Africa’s Democracy On April 27, the South African Embassy celebrated the 13th anniversary of freedom and democracy in post-apartheid South Africa, but not all is democratic in Africa’s most prosperous nation—at least according to a top opposition figure. Tony Leon, outgoing head of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance and leader of the opposition in Parliament, used his departure to take a few final stabs at the African National Congress (ANC), which has been securely in power all of the 13 years of South Africa’s independence. At an April 11 speech at the libertarian CATO Institute titled “South Africa’s Democracy: Dynamic or Defective,” Leon argued that the African National Congress’ stronghold over the political system has actually retarded democratic growth and that the ANC has failed to deliver on key promises. But for a discussion that was billed as a critique of the ANC, Leon nevertheless had a great deal of praise for President Thabo Mbeki’s administration, touting its accomplishments in bringing about a peaceful closure to apartheid rule. “From [1994] until now, the South African state has been completely stable, without any threat of an undemocratic challenge from any quarter,” Leon said. “Equally, the previously oppressed black majority have not embarked on the vengeful reverse racism which our history might have predicted and which could well have followed the collapse of white rule. This swift transition from a volatile international pariah to stable international paragon has been described as a ‘miracle.’ “The ANC, which now rules South Africa, was indeed the driving force for change,” Leon said, although he noted it was one of many organizations fighting the prevailing order. “The outstanding achievement of the ANC administration in the last 13 years has been to deliver sound, skillful and responsible management of our national finances.” But the lengthy compliments eventually gave way to a harsher look at some of South Africa’s biggest problems, which Leon accuses the ANC of failing to adequately address and helping to foster. Chief among these problems, according to Leon, has been the exodus of skilled white South Africans in response to the Employment Equity Act, which forces employers to hire based on the racial proportions in the country. “For example, whites are now 9 percent of the South African population. If 20 percent of your engineers were white, you had to tell the government how you intended to shrink that number toward 9 percent,” Leon explained. “What it means is that people get appointed and promoted on the color their skin.” The opposition leader charged that this “destructive obsession with racial engineering” has crippled investment and the economy at large. Moreover, this type of preferment—which he alleged often goes to “cronies and the politically well connected”—has drained the country of hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, contributing to a stunning 40 percent unemployment rate. “Instead of scrapping the ghastly racial engineering of apartheid, the ANC resurrected it in a different form,” Leon said, admitting that his party initially supported Affirmative Action but only if there was a cutoff date for its implementation. “Thus, we agree that preference be given to people who are black South Africans, when there are two candidates of equal quality and promise. But there’s a big difference between that and simply reducing it to a numbers game.” Likewise, the opposition leader was equally blunt about South Africa’s other woes, namely crime, a “failing” education system, a “shameful” foreign policy toward its neighbor Zimbabwe, and the tragic denial of HIV/AIDS. “Our rates of violent crime are among the highest on earth. We now have 18,528 murders a year, with a murder rate of 39.5 people per 100,000 persons a year,” Leon said. In addition, “HIV prevalence is now estimated to be 11 percent of our whole population and over 18 percent of those between the ages of 15 and 49. “So life expectancy has actually dropped in South Africa—from over 60 years in the 1990s to 48 in 2004.” And although not a panacea, Leon hammered home the message that removing bureaucracy, eliminating corruption, and bringing back skilled workers to bolster the economy can help lift millions out of poverty. “If a country has a good legal system that encourages enterprise, kept government intervention to a minimum, ensured property rights and made transactions quick, simple and reliable, you would have high economic growth and a successful economy,” he said. “That is all South Africa needs. Her people are as resourceful, talented and industrious as any other.” Tony Leon, outgoing head of South Africa’s Democratic Alliance and leader of the opposition in Parliament, spoke about the African National Congress, which has been in power for 13 years in South Africa, at an April 11 speech at the CATO Institute. Delicious Decade Celebration The District of Columbia Jewish Community Center (DCJCC) served up an appetizing event to celebrate its 10th anniversary at its 16th and Q Streets location with an elaborate gala featuring the area’s top chefs. Todd Gray of Equinox Restaurant, the gala’s executive chef, was joined by chefs from Palena Restaurant, Vidalia, Bebo Trattoria, 2941 Restaurant, Blue Duck Tavern and many other top D.C. eateries to offer samplings of their popular cuisine to the hundreds of guests who converged on Union Station, which was selected as this year’s gala venue to handle the oversize crowd that came out to toast the DCJCC. In fact, the DCJCC has seen some 2 million people pass through its doors over the past decade. Using its motto of “creativity, community and connection,” the center offers myriad cultural programs, theater, film, music, art, health, community service and other activities to explore the Jewish world. Each year the gala raises $300,000 to support these programs, and helping to raise those funds this year was an auction led by Dan Glickman, president and chief executive officer for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Among the auction items were a week in the south of France, tickets to “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in New York, and a private movie screening for 40 people at—of course—the MPAA private screening room, courtesy of Glickman and his wife. For more information on the DCJCC and its upcoming activities, visit www.dcjcc.org. From left, head of the Motion Picture Association of America Dan Glickman, Tom Kahn and former U.S. Ambassador Stuart Bernstein attend the DCJCC 10th anniversary gala at Union Station. Front page: Chef Todd Gray of Equinox, right, cooks for Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch at the DCJCC 10th anniversary gala. Photos: Dancing Moose Photography THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT P.O. Box 1345 Wheaton, MD 20915-1345 Tel: 301.933.3552 • Fax: 301.949.0065 www.washdiplomat.com